“I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore, Toto” says Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. Nor are we, we mystery fiction fans, in the typical English village or manor house. When it comes to contemporary mystery novels, things have changed—in a big way!

The world of mystery writing, many critics agree, took a new direction with the publication in 2012 of Gillian Flynn’s runaway bestseller Gone Girl. Her book flouted many of the conventions of traditional (read classical or Golden Age) mysteries and served as a watershed in crime fiction. The next ten years spawned new vistas for mysteries and blurred the usual genre categories, like “cozy,” “police procedural,” and “thriller.”

In this class we’ll read nine books published since 2012. We’ll discover together how and why they are different from what came before. The only common link will be their recent publication date. Oh, and they will all be great reads. Short and snappy whenever possible. Agatha would never write these new books, but we think you’ll enjoy them as much as we have!

This will be a discussion course. We’ve chosen books that are readily available in text or electronic format through the Minuteman Library Network and/or as reasonably priced used copies on Amazon. There will also be plenty of time to talk about your favorite contemporary crime books and writers as well.  Preparation time depends on the length of book and your reading speed, but should be at least 2-3 hours per book.